Addington v. Texas
- Decided
- April 30, 1979
- Docket
- 77-5992
- Status
- Published
- Jurisdiction
- Federal
Cited 3,004 timesNo negative treatment found in this library
What later courts said
- holding that the burden of proof for involuntary civil commitment must exceed a preponderance of the evidence — Warren Lee Hill, Jr. v. Carl Humphrey (2011)
- holding that civil commitment for any purpose constitutes significant deprivation of liberty that requires due process protection — Kephart v. Hadi (2006)
- holding that due process requires clear and convincing evidence for civil commitment of the mentally ill and dangerous — Matter of Linehan (1996)
Each line is a later court’s own words about this case, not a summary. Read the opinion before relying on it.
How the opinion begins
Me. Chief Justice Burgee delivered the opinion of the Court.
The question in this case is what standard of proof is required by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution in a civil proceeding brought under state law to commit an [*420] individual involuntarily for an indefinite period to a state mental hospital.
I
Statutes cited
Cite this
Addington v. Texas, 441 U.S. 418 (1979)Read the full opinion
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